Phoenix Feathers
by Auburn Waves
Summary: When a car crash kills her dad, Poppy's mum moves them to Hescombe where she meets a very strange girl named Connie, but death and danger are lurking in wait.
1. I dream of a monster

**I am being so naughty, I should be hit with an atomic tea towel ;). Them again... I really shouldn't e starting another story with three already on the go, one of which I have had to put on hold.**

**I would appreciate all reviews that you see fit to give **

**I dream of a Monster**

"_There are dangers out there that you cannot even begin to imagine, dangers out there that you don't even know exist. There are evils that can never be contained, evils that attack you from the very depths of your soul. There are creatures that defy all human knowledge ,creatures that cannot possibly exist. And then there is Kullervo..."_

"Who is Kullervo?" I foolishly asked.

"Ah, if only I could say," replied grandpa. "If only I could say."

"Oh," I replied my mind racing through all the possibilities.

"Now off to bed...or Kullervo will get you," he threatened teasingly.

"You haven't been telling her that story again Dad, have you?" asked my mum appearing in the doorway.

She was beautiful, the kind of woman I wanted to be when I got older; eyes like the sea and lips of rose. She wasn't tall and she wasn't fat; it was as though somehow she had managed to strike a perfect balance in life. When people said that I looked like my mum, I always felt a deep sense of pride deep down.

"No harm done," grinned grandpa.

"She'll be having nightmares if you're not careful," mum warned playfully, but there was a chilling edge to her words that made me think.

Was there anything really so terrible about a fairy story? Everyone knows good always wins and bad always loses. There's nothing else that can possibly happen.

"Into bed now," grandpa's voice intruded into my mind.

He picked me up, light as I am and let me down on the bed. I could feel the tickling sensation of his woollen jumper, but he was so warm and so kind that I decided that I would again try to go to sleep immediately. I was always a very good girl, for grandpa, for mum, for dad and for aunty Jane. We were all very happy in the house, all living together as a big happy family.

In case you're wondering, I am five years old with brown hair and hazel eyes. I am pale of skin with freckles and a rounded nose, I like how I look and the teacher's say I'm a very good student. Grandpa says I'll go far.

Mum came over to kiss me goodnight, then the next thing I knew I was falling out of the sky. The clouds parted like trapdoors and I plunged down, down, down. Then suddenly I was no longer falling, I was sitting in the front seat of a car. It was dark outside and a calm tune was playing on the radio. Looking around I recognised where I was and then I saw dad sitting at the wheel humming to himself, he obviously couldn't see me. He was somewhat older than I remembered, his hair was even beginning to go grey.

I gave up trying to get his attention and focused on the road outside. I couldn't see much, but there were a few yellowish streetlamps and more cars of various colours, but the scenery was boring. We were coming up to the traffic lights when it happened.

A huge shape swooped out of the sky, blue and black, all teeth and claws. It dive bombed the bonnet sending the car swerving towards a building. Dad was desperately trying to regain control, I was crying louder then I ever had before. My tears were blurring my vision and all I could do was wail.

That was when I heard the noise, an almighty smash. Bricks came tumbling down and the car roof dented beyond repair. I was almost crushed.

I screamed and somehow I was sitting in my bed back home, safe from huge blue and black creatures who squawked like harpies.

Mum ran in and sat down next to me. She pulled me into a big tight word and muttered soothing words in her soft melodious voice. I calmed down.

It was only a dream, wasn't it?

**In the rare case that you like this then you may want to read my other stories which are as follows: City of Dragons, **_**Stravaganza fanfic**_**, Strange Happenings and Catwalk, **_**Cat Royal fanfics**_** and The Fang of Siberia, **_**Children of the Lamp**_


	2. CSI

**Okay, so this is another chapter, I hope you're all enjoying it so far **** I will try my best to update, but no promises.**

**Crime Scene Investigation**

I could not believe my eyes, as I stared long and hard at the wreckage, I was sent careering back in my mind to that dreadful night of seven years ago when I was five. I was brought back to that terrible night when Grandpa had finished his story telling and I was all snug and tucked up in bed without a care in the world and then I was there...here..with my aged dad in the car. I saw the terrifying creature still in my mind's eye, the sharp talons, the blue-black feathers, the silhouette that would frighten even the bravest of men.

"It's alright sweety," said an officer.

I was brought out of my memories to see a woman smiling comfortingly at me. She was dressed in a police uniform.

"Can I get a closer look," I asked in a rather strangled voice.

"The way the car hit the building has made it unsafe, I'm afraid nobody can go in there yet," she replied kindly. "Is there anything else I can do for you?"

I shook my head sullenly.

Even if I looked sincere, I knew that I needed to get a closer look at the car, I needed to find out if what I had seen had really happened. There was only one way I could possibly do that and that was by getting through the safety barrier, passed the police and the team of people around the outside all interested in what had happened. Some of them were reporters, I scowled: how dare they come here and make a living out of other people's misery! I would have hit them if I wasn't preoccupied with finding a way in.

The police officer was already long gone and there wasn't anyone else particularly paying any attention to me so I edged forwards. There were no shouts or running police men so I took another cautious, but bigger step this time. Still nothing. I advanced in a casual way. Running was out as it would draw attention to me in a flash even if the wait was killing me. I was at the police barrier at last, but there were officers everywhere; I knew I had to get past them somehow. The only thing was how?

A diversion, the thought wondered into my mind.

Could I? Should I? Would I get away with it? What would happen if I didn't? Was anyone watching? What kind of diversion should I create? Could I make it big enough to cover me on the run to the car? What diversion? What diversion? The same wave of questions and doubts ran through my mind as I attempted to figure something out.

The abnormally cold autumn wind blew in my face and ruffled my long brown hair. It made me shiver, chilling me to my bone. The whole surroundings looked more unnerving than they had a minute ago and dark grey clouds passed in front of the sun giving everything a murky feel like something supernatural had happened, but then wasn't that what I was trying to find out by sneaking to the car?

"Come on," I hissed to myself getting ready for the worst.

I climbed into the police car, the keys were in the wheel. I had no idea how to drive, but I wasn't trying to go too far. I ignited the engine and followed it up with the basic sequence that my mum had taught me, then I put the gears into position pressing hard on the accelerator. The car began to move; gaining speed with every second, I didn't know how long my nerves would hold out. My muscles were straining with the physical effort it was taking me to stay in the car.

As soon as the speed indication hit 40, I knew I needed to get out. My only option was to jump so that's what I did.

My hands hit the concrete hard with my knees, scraping off several layers of skin. My knees started to bleed through the newly created hole on my jeans, but I didn't have time to stop, not if I wanted to get to my dad's car. The police car was sure to hit something soon and that would be my opening. I walked swiftly to the barrier ready to make a dash for it.

I didn't have to wait long as my ears were soon greeted by the sound of a crash, not a spectacular one, but it was enough. The police ran towards the car and I took the opportunity to sprint like a lunatic towards the first crash.

I don't think anyone saw me as suddenly all attention was on the police which had smashed into the side of an empty warehouse and was surrounded by at least half of the crowd who had been around the police barrier.

My dad's car was looming up, but the side I wanted to see was trapped in the building. I could see there was a large enough hole near the middle of the car that I could easily get through and so I decided I had to get into it fast or else I might be stopped. I pressed myself up against the side of the car and pushed through the hole.

Bits of brick and dust fell onto my clothes and struck my already stinging knees. I had to bite down on my bottom lip to stop myself crying out in pain. Tears were forming in my eyes.

I found myself staring at the bonnet sooner than I had expected. Deep linear dents ran from the windscreen to the front and the windscreen itself showed signs of severe cracks in odd spider web-like patterns. A single dark feather jutted out from the centre of the largest. I placed two aching fingers around it and pulled.

As it came lose the glass of the windscreen shattered into tiny pieces and the face of my lifeless father stared back at me, pale, gaunt, dead.

The true horror of his death finally sank in and I couldn't move, I just cried and cried; screaming and shouting, rolling around on the hood of the bonnet in sheer disbelief. I didn't want to believe it, I didn't want to know. Somehow seeing him like this had abolished every last strand of hope I had clung to, every strand of hope that I had kept. It all seemed so much more real now, so much more terrifying.

Everything seemed to blend into everything else so that I could no longer distinguish my surroundings. My mind was in a mess, as jumbled up as my sight. All I knew was that my dad was dead and that I wanted to die to.

**He's dead!**


	3. I meet a mismatched girl

**Thanks Angelmail and tia97 for reviewing. **

**Angelmail: **_this chapter may be a little sad too_

**Tia97: **_thanks for reading the CR and the CQ ones._

**I meet a mismatched girl**

It took three police officers, two hours to find me and safely remove my shaking body from the bonnet of the car. I didn't want to move, I just wanted to lie there with my dad forever, and ever and ever. My face felt cool and clean when I finally woke up, not hot and sticky from the onslaught of salty tears as I remembered it to be.

I remember looking around me, I was in a room. A room that was creepily white and blue and reminded me of one of those hospitals in horror movies where something always goes wrong. It took a moment to realise that I actually was in a hospital and another moment to realise that my mother was sat on a chair next to the bed sleeping.

Dark circles ringed her eyes like she hadn't been asleep for a long time and she looked like she had gained ten years worth of ageing since I last saw her. I decided it was best not to wake her. She needed her sleep and I wasn't in any rights to take it from her so I let her lie there, blissfully unaware of her surroundings.

As I lay, I thought of my father, of how he had looked, of he had smelt, of how he had sounded. And suddenly I started to cry and shiver all over again. My mind became jumbled and all I could think of was my dad and that he was gone.

That was two months ago, I had recovered, but it hurt really badly, there would always be a great emptiness where my father had been, a great longing for him to return. I still had the memories, the vision I had seen of his death at the age of five, the sight of his lifeless body in the car. It was terrible.

What was even worse though was that everyone at school knew and suddenly everyone felt sorry for me. Everywhere I went, I received pitied looks. Nobody understood that they weren't helping, not even my friends. The same thing must have been happening to mum because she finally made the decision to move.

So a few months later there I was sitting in our car, needless to say it looked nothing like dad's. The memory was just too painful and the wound had not yet healed. Even so it was taking it's time. I don't think it will ever fully heal though. I stared out the window at the dreary backdrop of this new town where we would live.

_Hescombe_, it was called. There was nothing particularly inviting or even exciting about the place. It was more of a village and the secondary school I would be going to was all the way in the next town of Chartmouth. I for one wasn't looking forward to the long drive.

I hated them and the drive down to Hescombe was no exception. Me and my mother had barely spoken a word and any questions would be answered with single-word responses. It was not only awkward, but sad to think that me and my mother had grown slowly apart since the tragic death of my father.

The hours passed silently and just as the sky was beginning to darken, and the streetlamps to glow, we pulled up to a small cottage in a lonely little street. I was too tired to notice the street name but I remember the mosaic number on the door: 3. It was lighting blue woven into grass green with deep purple numbers.

When I woke up, I felt the sleep attack my eyes, not willing them to open, but I had to get up. I had to get up and keep going. Dreams were very dangerous things, I knew only too well. I didn't want to spend the rest of my life in a dream world where everything was perfect, but seemed like a distorted form of life, which I looked upon through tinted glasses.

It was with reluctance that I carried out my normal routine and ended up sitting silently at the kitchen table eating cold cereal. I stared at every spoon for at least a minute before eating it. By the time I came to the last few spoonfuls, I was forcing down soggy cereal. It was disgusting.

No sooner had I heaped my stuff into the dishwasher, the doorbell rang. My mum went to open it and found that a small family of four were at the door bearing gifts of chocolate and cake. If I were my old self I would have jumped for joy. My mother tried, but both of us looked rather grim in the pretty house and a couple of shades paler than normal human skin.

"It's nice to meet you," smiled the girl holding out her hand to me.

"Same," I attempted a smile, but as I looked at her face I noticed there was something not quite right about it.

She had one green eye and one brown.

"I'm Connie," she introduced herself.

All I could do was stare.

**I know it's a little on the short side, but I didn't want to keep you waiting too long.**


	4. Memories are painful

**First of all thanks to my lovely reviewers:**

**Angelmail: **thanks for noticing that line

**Tia97: **i can't say anything at the moment though

**Frozen Smoke: **here is the next chapter

**And I hope that all of the readers enjoy this chapter. I know it's been a while since I last wrote one and now there are loads of stories in the archive, but here it is...at last.**

**Memories are painful**

"Come on in," my mum invited the family and they entered obligingly.

All of them were smiling happily at me and mum and neither of us was sure what to do. It had been two months since I last remember smiling like that. I felt somewhat unconnected to this family. They seemed to come from a different world, a better world. Except the girl.

I followed them into the lounge consciously observing Connie very closely. She looked well, but there was something about her, something that told me she had endured many a hardship in her life. I sighed, she looked like she had gotten over whatever it was. I hoped that I could do the same. But I'd never forget Dad! NEVER!

I still had the feather I had plucked from the crime scene that seemed to fit in so perfectly with my dream. Had Dad really been killed by a giant great big monster? How could that be possible? I needed so many answers to so many questions; I knew I might never get them though.

"Welcome," smiled the lady. "I'm Evelyn."

"Rose," said my mum.

"So, where are you two from?" she asked.

"Er..." my mum said trying to remember.

She had been struggling lately with all the tasks that had seemed so normal in their previous. She had been looking for a job as well in the town to keep us going. "The world waits for no man" said a knowledgeable man once upon a time. I sighed for a moment in thought.

"Down south," I replied. "We come from down south."

"I see," replied the lady. "And who are you?"

"I'm Poppy," I replied.

"Cool," said Evelyn, she then turned to the girl next to her. "Connie why don't you go out and show Poppy the area?"

"Okay," agreed Connie. "Follow me."

She dragged out the door before I could protest. What was I meant to do? This girl wanted to be helpful, mum would be very annoyed if I made enemies with the neighbours on my very first day. So I followed her out and down the path to the gate.

The gate was an interesting feature in the garden, especially given the fact that it wouldn't close. The rust on the hinges was so bad that to risk closing it would almost certainly mean breaking it. Just then we didn't want any financial problems so we just left the gate open. Why not?

"So what do you like doing?" asked Connie.

"I don't know," I replied, there wasn't a lot I liked doing now.

Everything seemed pointless with dad dead. I still tried to do some things, especially with mum, but when someone you love dies, it's not as easy as just getting up and carrying on. With normal things you get knocked to the floor, but I had been pushed over the edge of a crevice with only a thin rope to hold me up and no footholds to help me out. The climb would be long, I knew that. I just didn't know if I'd make it.

"Well I'll tell you what I like doing," smiled Connie. There seemed to be no end to her enthusiasm. "Do you like animals?"

"I guess," I replied.

It was better than anything I'd done lately. Connie took me down to the beach and we went to see the seagulls who somehow obeyed Connie. She got them to sit on my lap so that I could stroke them.

"They're so soft!" I marvelled as I stroked their feathers.

Such beautiful feathers, a sickening feeling took hold of me as I remembered what I had plucked from the bonnet of dad's car after the crash. Connie was saying something, but all I could hear was background noise. Suddenly the sea seemed so much nearer, ready to engulf me in its rolling waves. It roared at me, opening its great jaws to swallow me alive. I felt my stomach churn. I wanted to be sick. I tried to fight it, but my mind was overcome with images of that night. I had known what was about to happen. I had known.

My stomach stopped churning, I wasn't going to puke. Then just when I thought I was going to be fine, the world became a blur and I passed out.

**I know this is the shortest chapter yet, but I just had to get it out otherwise I wouldn't blame you for giving up on me.**


	5. Monster Ice Lollies

**Angelmail: **We'll have to wait and see

**K8yx:** Thank you. I'll try not to slip up, but then it'll be hard.

**And to everyone else, thanks a million for reading and sorry I was so long updating the last chapter. Enjoy **

**Monster Ice lollies**

I woke up to see Connie staring down at me. We were still on the beach, but I was lying flat on my back. How much time had passed?

"Are you okay?" asked Connie. "Do you want me to take you home?"

"No I'm fine," I replied, my voice hoarse. "Honestly."

"If you're sure," she said, but she didn't sound convinced.

"I'm fine," I repeated for clarity.

What is it with people? Why don't they ever believe you when you say that? I mean, fair enough, I had just passed out, but I was fine. Well, maybe I wasn't, but this Connie girl couldn't really help me. She didn't know anything about me. What I needed was my mum.

She had been there all the times I had fainted at school, she'd been there when I'd woken up in hospital. She knew what to do, how to comfort me, how to bring me round. I don't know why Dad's death affected me like this, and neither did she, but she loved me and I loved her, and that's all that mattered.

"So what do you want to do now?" Connie asked me. "Do you like ice cream?"

"Yeah," I replied, anything to take my mind off my reason for fainting.

Connie seemed to be extremely popular with the guy at the ice-cream cafe. How did I know? He gave her a kiss as soon as she was within reach. Connie blushed, I looked away feeling kind of awkward, the reason for Connie's desire to visit the ice cream place becoming crystal clear.

"Hey Col," she smiled at him.

"Hey," he grinned back. Then he caught sight of me. "Who's this?" he asked turning back to Connie.

She was infinitely more interesting to him than I was.

"This is Poppy," she told him. "She's new, lives down my street."

"Oh hey," he said with a wave, but he was reluctant to remove his eyes from my new neighbour. "I'm Col by the way."

"Hi," I waved back uncertainly.

Then I noticed with a gasp that he too had mismatched eyes.

"Are you okay?" asked Connie.

"Yeah," I replied. "Sure. I think I'm hallucinating," I admitted.

Connie looked at Col and a look passed between them. What were they communicating about? I was certain the worry on their faces was not only because I could be suffering from a mental illness.

"I thought I saw a giant ice lolly walking towards me," I explained.

The two of them looked at me incredulously and started laughing. I felt like sinking into my shoes, the lengths I would go to make sure I wasn't being rude.

"Are you sure you're okay?" asked Connie light-heartedly. "You know I think you must've taken a hit to the head when you fainted earlier."

I smiled back half-heartedly. I couldn't help feeling there was relief in her voice and in both their laughter. What were they hiding?

"So do you two want an ice-cream?" asked Col, although when he said you two, I swear he meant Connie. "Or were you just coming over here to admire me?"

"You wish," grinned Connie.

I felt invisible, both of these nice people must now think I was either insane or bordering on the brink of inventing imaginary friends. Giant popsicles it would seem. I groaned to myself. I hadn't been in this town more than a day and I had already convinced everyone I'd met that I was mad. I was certain.

Connie and Col were kissing again. It was almost as if I didn't exist. I wasn't about to interrupt them though. I'd done that before and the people had gotten very angry with me.

"I think I'll have a Whippy ice cream," decided Connie as they broke apart, _finally_. "What about you Poppy."

I was taken by surprise and stood there sort of like a goldfish. I shook myself realising what I was doing.

"Oh, I'll have one of those to," I agreed. "With a flake."

"Naturally," smiled Col. "Not an ice lolly?" he asked innocently.

I glared at him seriously trying not to stick my tongue out. That little remark was uncalled for. Col laughed and turned round to deal with the ice creams. Connie then turned towards me.

"I like you," she said frankly. "You make me laugh."

I grinned at her, not something I normally do. Nobody had ever said I was funny before, but then nobody else thought I day dreamed about monster ice lollies.

Col finished with the whippies and Connie paid for them. Of course there was a very long goodbye kiss between them, but when Connie finally tore herself away we were able to leave the shop and head back out onto the beach.

"Would you like to go home now?" she asked me looking back over her shoulder to the ice cream parlour.

"Alright," I agreed.

Three guesses where she'd be going once she'd dropped me home. I smiled despite myself. Connie and Col made such a cute couple. I began to wonder when I would ever find someone like that. I shrugged, I still had a lot of life left to find that person.

We got back to the house at around four o'clock and Mum was still there talking to that Evelyn lady. Undoubtedly they'd just been exchanging embarrassing baby stories. Mum looked much mire cheerful than when I'd left her.

"Oh hey there littl'un," she called when she saw me. "I was just telling Evelyn all about you."

Yep, she'd been telling baby stories.

"How was your trip?" asked mum. "Do you like the town?"

"Yeah. It's fun, I guess," I replied. "Connie was very helpful too," I said.

Evelyn beamed at Connie.

"Well I better be off then," said Evelyn getting to her feet. "Come on Connie."

The two of them waved goodbye at the door and Evelyn promised to come round again soon and her and mum arranged a visit to the shopping centre together. What fun! I thought sarcastically. But if it made mum happy then I wasn't about to object.

Me on the other hand, Connie promised to call and take me out to see most of the rest of the town sometime and agreed to help me settle into school when I started in a week's time. We weren't in the same year though. I was in the year below, which meant I would be thrown in the deep end at school.

I was dreading it.


	6. When dreams come true

**Thanks to everyone who's still reading this. I know it's been a bit slow lately, but we're getting into the plot finally. Enjoy **

**When dreams come true…**

I stared at my ceiling, what was happening to me. I hadn't felt right since I'd returned to the house this afternoon. There had been something new inside me. Only it wasn't new, it was old, it was so very old. Older than everything. It felt like an old friend, but I knew better.

I'd had the feeling before and as I stared at the ceiling now, I was afraid. Something bad was going to happen. I didn't know when and I didn't know why, but I knew that once again I would be helpless, I wouldn't be able to do anything to stop it.

I wanted to scream. I wanted to punch the wall and tear my hair from its sockets in frustration. I couldn't fall asleep. I knew that if I did I would see, and seeing was ALWAYS bad.

_Don't go to sleep, _I told myself. _Don't go to sleep, don't go to sleep, don't go to…_

The soothing repetition of that one sentence put my mind at ease and I couldn't help, but fall asleep.

_The stars, they were so bright. So beautiful in the night sky, so close I could almost touch them. I focused, I wasn't here for the stars-I was here for something else, something more important._

_I dragged my gaze from the shimmering lights to look around me. It was dark where I was, I could faintly make out the distant line of trees off to my right, but that was all. I was surrounded on every side by a long stretch of grass as far as the eye could see._

_The moors, I guessed. Cold and eerie in the middle of the night._

_A song broke through the silence in a strange otherworldly tongue, a woman's voice punctuated with more than just words, but feelings to. The voice was getting louder, the owner closer. A figure came into sight, hair billowing around her face, clothes lashing at her body in the wind. But she wasn't alone, another…creature…was with her. She was dark and shadowy, but her voice was intertwined with the other woman's. Indistinguishable._

_A dark shadow was moving among the blades of grass, I knew it, I knew that presence, that evil. This person was in danger._

_The wind ceased for a moment, I caught a glimpse of her face, the woman on the moors. It was Evelyn – the lady next door._

_I ran towards her. How could I let something bad happen to this lady? She had been so kind to us earlier. I ran, faster and faster. I reached out a hand to grab her, to pull her from harm's way. But my hand sank through her very essence like thin air. _

_I couldn't touch he , she couldn't hear me._

_I watched helplessly as the shadows gathered together, getting more and more dense. A creature formed from the mists, a great dog. And it was moving, slowly and stealthily towards Evelyn. I was screaming at the top of my voice, the sound was ringing in my own ears, then the shadow encased the woman and she was gone._

_I screamed again, tears in my eyes._

I sat up in bed, safe from the shadows of the moors. I hoped with all my heart that nothing had happened to the woman.

This wasn't fair! Why was I being tormented like this. I didn't want to know, and now I did. What was I going to do?

I tried to think, but my mind was too tired. Quietly I fell back into and deep, dreamless slumber.

I woke the next morning to the sound of voices in the living room. Hurriedly I grabbed some clothes and just about pulled on my t-shirt as I emerged at the bottom of the stairs.

"You sure you don't know where she is?" It was my mum, she sounded worried.

A lump rose in my throat. Who was _she_? It couldn't be, I decided. This was my paranoia getting the better of me.

"I don't know where she is," replied a male voice, he sounded like he was about to go into a state of ultimate despair.

I peered round the door to see who it was and caught sight of a middle-aged man who bore a considerable resemblance to that Col guy I'd met the day before.

"I can help you look for her," suggested my mum.

"Would you?" said the man hopeful.

"Of course," replied mum. "I know what it's like to loose someone you love."

And she did, there was a great sadness in her voice, a great despair in her heart.

I felt empty again as if in that one sentence all my worries and loss had returned to me in bucket loads. The doors to my mind were wide open and all the despair I'd been holding in for the last few months began again. Only a trickle at first, but then more and more. The sadness overwhelmed me and my vision blurred. One word brought me back to life.

"…Evelyn," the man had said.

I ran out of the house, I had to get up onto the moors. I knew it was silly, just a dream. But I had to check, I wasn't going to let someone else die. Not again!


	7. Silent as death

**Sorry for taking so long, my computer crashed, enjoy...**

**Previously: Poppy had a dream about Evelyn and the creature who killed her dad and Evelyn has gone missing.**

**Silent as death**

Outside the street was calm and silent, the distant waves in the sea were subdued as if they had tired themselves out. It had been a long night, I could feel it in the air. Something bad had happened, I knew something bad had happened.

The road seemed to stretch away forever, I broke into a run. Connie came round the corner, a distraught expression was painted on her face. She saw me and I saw her lips move, her brow furrow in a puzzled way. She was saying something, but I didn't hear her. As I passed her though a feeling of unease invaded my mind, something about Connie. I didn't know what it was, but it wasn't right.

My stomach churned. I sped up trying to put as much distance between myself and Connie as possible. It wasn't rational, it was instinct. Connie was radiating danger like a rabid dog. I ran and ran.

The streets flashed past, I didn't register names or houses, I just kept running in the same direction. I was running to the moors. _Just to check_, I told myself. _Just to be certain_.

The moors looked like death as I ran down the final street, the grass was grey and morose and the ground looked harsh and unforgiving. I pushed on, my feet reaching the first strands of grass within seconds. The shoots were tangled and long. They were reeds ready to pull a person to their watery doom or any type of doom.

I gulped mentally berating myself for allowing such thoughts into my head. _Evelyn was alive,_ I told myself. _She was alive._ I wanted to scream it from the rooftops, be as loud as I could, but it wouldn't help.

"Come on," I muttered aloud as I climbed over yet another ridge in this unending sea of hills.

Where was she? She had to be around here somewhere! Or even better: she wouldn't be here at all, but somewhere safe. I couldn't even bring myself to dare to hope that she would be alright. It seemed so definite that she wouldn't be.

I scaled another grassy verge and a body came into sight on the hill only ten or twenty metres away. It was a woman, I could tell from the skirt. I summoned all the strength I had left and poured it into my run.

I could see blood now: blood oozed from the body, slowly trickling away like the woman's life. My heart sank. It was Evelyn lying on the ground, patches of scarlet spreading from her body as if the body had no need of it any longer.

I was shaking as I approached the body, I put my hand out. Goosebumps were running the length of my arm like a disease. I swallowed hard and knelt down. I could feel the wetness of the blood as it seeped into my trousers where my knees met the grass. The sensation chilled me like ice. The whole world seemed to have fallen a few degrees within seconds.

I shivered and moved my fingertips towards Evelyn's pale face. I brushed the hair aside and placed my hand down on her neck. For a moment their was nothing. I could feel the panic rising in my stomach as I moved my fingers over her smooth skin. Where was the pulse? I had to find the pulse.

I nearly fainted with relief when I felt a faint throb under Evelyn's jawbone. She was alive! But only just, her eyes were sunken and closed and her lips were a pale shade of violet. It was like watching a person in their final hours.

The wind was silent, the moors eerie. There was nobody around for miles. I had no phone, I had completely forgotten everything in my rush. I was still wearing my pajamas for goodness sake. I started to cry. Salty tears ran down my face. Here I was, the only person who knew where Evelyn was and all I could do was sit and watch her die.

"WHY!" I screamed. I broke down into a pathetic mumble. "Why me?" I almost whispered.

I couldn't save her. I couldn't save my Dad – I had been too late and now I couldn't save this innocent woman. Why? Why was life so cruel? It seemed like all I could ever do was run to the corpse-like body of the people I knew would die, and I couldn't do anything to help them. It was painful, the pain in my heart. My heart that longed for my father to return, to stay here with me and hug me and tell me what to do.

It was cold on the moors. So cold. My fingers felt like icicles never to move again and my face was numb from the wind, but I could still hear my thoughts, my emotions.

"Go away!" I shouted to myself desperately trying to blank my mind.

Then a bleeping noise started down by my right hand. It was Evelyn's mobile. I picked it up.

_MAC_ the screen read.

It took all my strength to move my frozen fingers. I had to press the _accept call _key. I did it, Mac's voice came through the other end.

"Evelyn," he sounded panicked. "Are you alright?"

"No," I managed. "She's been hurt. Really badly, there's blood everywhere. Call and ambulance. Please, we're on the moors."

"Who is this?" demanded Mac. "What's happened?"

"It's Poppy," I said, I heard my mum gasp in the background. "Please call an ambulance!"

The line went dead, Mac had decided to take my advice. He didn't want to risk losing his wife. She was the love of his life. He would get an ambulance to them, I knew he would.

I looked down at the body of Evelyn, the lady next door. The blood was still flowing. Mac would get that ambulance, I was certain, but would it be fast enough?

**Well, sometimes our worst fears happen...**

**I'll try to update in the new year **


	8. A Complication

**Here goes, sorry its a bit of a short one this time, but I've had so much to do this holiday.**

**A Complication**

"Is she going to be okay?" I asked the paramedics as they closed the door of the van.

The man looked at me with a sympathetic face, I had seen that face before so many times. It was the giveaway to the fact that there was a problem, a big problem and they didn't want me, the twelve year old to be hurt.

"Is she?" I asked again.

"We'll do what we can," said the man and the van started to move.

That wasn't an answer to my question, but at least I knew that Evelyn would get all the help they could give her. I just hoped it was enough.

I sat there pitifully. There was apart of me that said it was my fault that Evelyn was lying on the stretcher hooked up to oxygen and being watched carefully by a team of paramedics. They had a grim determination on their faces as if they had seen death too often and I had seen death too. Twice I had seen it in my dreams, once I had found it in reality, faced its cold, cruel grip. I didn't want to see it again, but I couldn't do anything. Evelyn's life was in the hands of the doctors and nurses now.

The inside of the ambulance was a creamy colour with all manner of equipment on the walls and in boxes. I silently thanked the stars that most of it was not necessary for Evelyn. There was still hoped.

The time passed like sand, the sirens becoming only a distant noise in my thoughts and before long we were outside the hospital. The doors opened and medical staff rushed forward to unload Evelyn's body.

"What's the state?" asked the doctor her hands on the rail.

"Bad," replied a paramedic unaware that I was still listening. "We've got a serious head injury and a punctured lung. Heart rate stable at present, but temperature falling rapidly."

So that was it, the hard truth. Evelyn was in a bad way. She had been seriously hurt in the attack. The attack! I hardly noticed as a nurse led me out of the ambulance and down the disinfected corridors to the waiting room. Who was this shadow, this darkness that attacked in the night and manifested itself in my dreams?

"Poppy!" exclaimed my mum when she saw me.

She ran towards me and scooped me up into a hug. Suddenly the world didn't matter anymore because it was just me and my mum and I loved her more than anything that now walked the earth. I hugged her back with such force that she nearly stumbled backwards slightly, but she regained her balance.

"Oh sweetheart," she sobbed. "I was so worried when you were out on the moors with Evelyn and I didn't know if you'd been hurt or what had happened."

"I'm okay," I said between tears as the memory of that morning flooded my thoughts again. "I'm okay."

I don't know how long I stayed in my mother's embrace, but when I looked up I could see the haunted faces of the Lionheart and Clamworthy families. Connie especially looked gaunt and pale as though she was suffering from severe trauma. Her beautiful mismatched eyes were trained on me warily as if she didn't want to know what had happened.

Next to her Mac looked nearly as bad and rings seemed to have appeared beneath his eyes from being up so early this morning. He also looked pale and worried by the news I could bring him. In his arms was a small bundle that I recognised as his and Evelyn's baby. I gulped. Evelyn had to survive if only for this child.

Col came into the room looking defeated, he had been out nurses, doctors or anyone he could find for news on his step-mum, but they had taken her to the operating theatre and since then he had heard noting at all on her condition. Her life was in limbo.

The whole lot of them looked like they wanted to ask what had happened, but what could I tell them? That I had seen it in my dream? That I had seen her attacked by a...shadow? It just didn't seem within the bounds of belief, but I had to say something.

"I found her on the moors," I said quietly trying to ignore the lump in my throat. "She was covered in blood and I didn't know what to do," I said almost inaudibly.

"It's okay," said Mac. "I'm just glad you found her."

She could definitely hear it in his voice, but it was a short-lived gladness that was swiftly drowned by the currents of grief and deprivation.

Just then the door opened and a nurse came in.

"Mr Clamworthy," he said, Mac stepped a pace forward. "I'm afraid there's been a complication."

"What?" Mac's face had fallen a few kilometres.

"I'm afraid we can't save both of them."

"Who?" asked Connie pushing forwards.

"The baby may die."

**I don't even know the outcome of this operation yet so I'm in as much suspense as all of you.**


	9. I have a Flashback

**Thanks for being patient guys This is for miny-universal, thanks for the reviews ) I hope you all enjoy this chapter...**

**I have a Flashback**

Mum decided to wait with the Clamworthys and the Lionhearts. She had made up her mind that we needed to be there to support them. I understood. Looking at the gaunt faces, the bitten lips and the chewed nails I knew their pain. I knew how it felt to loose somebody. At least they had hope, but the child...

Mac had told them to go ahead with the operation despite everything, they could at least try to save Evelyn even if the child couldn't be. It was better one of them than none. I imagined the child in her womb. Who would it have been? A life that would never be fulfilled, a child who would never see the sunshine or feel the love of their family and the joy of friendship, love and laughter. I tried to picture a face in my mind, but it was just a blank.

As soon as I heard about the baby I had got a strange tugging in my gut from dread and something else. I don't know what it was, but I saw Connie grip her stomach as well as if she'd felt the same thing, but there had been a moment where a look of pain and torment had crossed her face and then it was gone.

Poor Connie, she seemed to be affected even more than anyone else, her skin looked grey-tinged like the energy had drained out of her and her face was expressionless and raw with tears. It reminded me of myself a few months ago when I had caught sight of my reflection, but Connie looked worse.

I tried not to think of Dad as my eyelids grew heavy, but death was all that plagued my mind. I was surprised to find myself standing in a field with my father. He smiled at me with his slightly goofy teeth and lively eyes. He was wearing a pair of jeans and a blue chequered shirt. _Daddy's relaxing clothes_ he'd called them, because when he was wearing those clothes it meant he wasn't working and he could play with her or Mummy instead.

"Can I have the ball?" I asked. I remembered this day, I had been nine years old and Dad had just picked me up from school and we'd walked up the path to the hillside where Dad had brought out a new Bambi ball that he'd bought for me.

"Sure," he smiled at me. "But don't get your school clothes dirty."

He was joking, it was the weekend, the washing was always done for Monday anyway. He tossed the ball and I caught it. He let me turn it over in my hands examining the designs on it. I grinned broadly at the pictures of Bambi and Thumper.

"Let's play catch," I decided and threw the ball to him trying to catch him off guard, but Dad was too quick.

He caught it between his fingers and brought it back round to throw to me. I caught it easily. I knew Dad was deliberately making it easy, he always did.

"Come on Dad," I said sounding a little whiny as I threw the ball back as hard as I could.

The sun dazzled me as I looked up towards my Dad. Once again had caught the ball and was rolling it in his hands.

"You want me to throw it harder?" he asked.

"Yes," I grinned happily.

He spun round like a ballerina without the poise or grace and popped it into the air. I had to move a few steps to the right to catch it, but I caught it anyway. I was so proud I said defiantly:

"That was easy."

"Oh," said Dad jokingly. "Oh I see."

He caught the ball again and took a step back in the grass where a patch of daisies had sprung up shining like snow on a winter's day and bending there large pale faces towards me. That was when the clouds descended. Like swift dark figures they crawled their way across the sky and swam like water snakes across the painted sky.

Dad looked worried, he held the ball firmly in his hands and looked up to the heavens. For a moment he looked unsure then he turned to me.

"Come on Poppy," he said. "Let's go."

He took my hand gently, but there was sense of urgency in the way he moved forwards as though he was afraid? It had puzzled me at the time, it still did. Why was Dad afraid? A sneaking suspicion implanted itself in my mind as I felt consciousness pulling me out of my dreaming state.

"Poppy," it was my Mum shaking me. "Poppy, they did it!"

I was confused for a moment trying to gather my surroundings.

"Did what?" I asked.

"They saved her, she's alive!"

Mum was looking so glad, I could see a few years had fallen off her in her smile. There was no bitterness in her voice that someone else's partner had been saved when hers had been..., well...

"What about the baby?" I asked reluctantly not sure I wanted to know.

"The baby's fine," replied my Mum.

I smiled relieved, all the weight I had felt since my dream had lifted like a mist, evaporating without a trace. I looked around the room, we were the only two people I recognised there.

"The other's have already gone into to see her," Mum said like she could read my mind. "Do you want to go in as well."

She offered me her soft pale hands and I grasped them a little stronger than I had intended and pulled myself up.

"Let's go," I said, the memory of my father fading in form my immediate thinking.

***sniff* *sniff*, I just love it when things turn out okay. Read and review **


	10. Black Mist

**Sorry it took a while to update. I've been revising so I don't know when I'll next be able to. Oh well, enjoy this anyway.**

**Black Mist**

"Here she is," said Mac grinning broadly despite his tired features. "The hero."

I smiled back at them, but I felt a little queasy. I was overcome with joy, but I didn't want to let it through because I still felt as though it might all disappear very fast. The families standing there were all smiling now. Their eyes were alive with hope.

Evelyn beckoned for me to come forward.

"Thank you," she said taking my hand. "Thank you for saving me."

"It's okay," I squeezed her still fragile hand. "I did what was right."

I hesitated a moment considering whether or no to pursue the matter further. Evelyn didn't look like she needed any more trouble at the moment, but I had to know. I had to know if she knew anything.

"Do you remember anything?" I asked her.

Maybe it wasn't the dark mist I had seen. Maybe it was something else. It could all just have been a massive coincidence. I mean who's to say I was right. Subconsciously I moved my hand to my pocket. The dark feather was still there. Was it really a coincidence?

"It's blurry," said Evelyn, her features scrunched up in concentration. "I don't remember much."

"That's okay," I said quickly. "Don't strain yourself."

I didn't want her to get worse now. I wanted her to stay okay.

"No it's fine," she said. "I was out on the moors, singing with..." she stopped herself looking at Mac for a moment. "Just singing," she said finally. "It was dark and then, well it got darker and then there was pain. So much pain," her face contorted.

I wanted to tell her it was okay and that she didn't have to say anymore. The others looked like they wanted to say that too.

"Then I don't remember anything," she muttered. "Just blackness."

I looked at her, a sinking feeling weighed in my stomach. I was right. I had to be. There had been an ominous dark creature of the shadows that night, and it had attacked Evelyn on the moors. More than ever I wanted to know what it was.

But how?

Mum and I were the first people to leave the hospital that day. My mind was still a little preoccupied with this creature.

The day had been exhausting, it had gone in a haze and as I got home, I just wanted to slump down on my bed and sleep. Mum looked better than she had for a while. Sure she was tired, but there was a new life to her features that I hadn't seen for a while. She prepared dinner in a good mood and we both sat down at the table.

"Thank God Evelyn's alright," said my Mum.

She smiled at me.

"I know," I smiled back. "I was really worried for a few hours there."

"Sweetheart," she reached out a hand across the table to me. "You were so brave. You did everything that needed to be done. Evelyn is so lucky you found her."

I looked up into her eyes and tried to look okay, but the words had got to me. Had I really done _everything that needed to be done_? It didn't feel like it. I felt like I could've done more and I had a horrible thought at the back of my head that screamed my guilt at my dad's death.

My mum seemed to realise what I was thinking.

"Nobody blames you for dad's death," she said stroking my hand and squeezing it.

"I know," I said. "But what if I'd realised? I mean what if..."

"Sweety," she said. "If we live our lives in what ifs then we can never really live at all."

She looked at me meaningfully.

"Mum," I said quietly. "I saw the attack on Evelyn," my mum was alert. "I saw it in my dreams."

Mum had a pained expression on her face.

"Don't do this to yourself again," she said quietly. "Evelyn is safe, that's all that matters. And you saved her."

"I know," I said solemnly. "But there's something I don't understand."

"What is it sweety?" Mum asked.

"The darkness," I said. "It attacked her. It was some kind of, of black mist."

"That's not possible," she said as if to herself. "They contacted me a while ago, they said..."

She rambled off muttering indistinctly.

"Finish your food," she told me. "It's been a long day. I think we would both benefit from a good night's sleep."

I finished my food still a little befuddled by what my mum had said. What did she mean by _they_? What had _they_ said? I climbed into my bed in my state of confusion.

**Oh ho, strange events are afoot...**


End file.
